To Do List

The Plague Doctor

So Halloween has come and gone, and along with it all the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles...

One of my costumes this year (yes, I had more than one. That's how I role) was that of a Plague Doctor:




Surprisingly, not very many people know what a Plague Doctor is. During the Black Death and the Great Plague of London doctors would wear a special costume used to help protect them from the disease.



Sometimes refereed to as Beak Doctors, the Plague Doctor costume consisted of an ankle length overcoat, leggings, gloves, boots, a hat, a cane, and the most distinctive piece of the costume, the bird beak mask. The beak held dried flowers, herbs, spices, camphor or a vinegar sponge. Doctors believed the herbs would counter the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected. The doctors also used wooden canes to point out areas needing attention and to examine the patients without touching them.



This sixteenth century poem describes the "beak doctor" costume:

As may be seen on picture here,
In Rome the doctors do appear,
When to their patients they are called,
In places by the plague appalled,
Their hats and cloaks, of fashion new,
Are made of oilcloth, dark of hue,
Their caps with glasses are designed,
Their bills with antidotes all lined,
That foulsome air may do no harm,
Nor cause the doctor man alarm,
The staff in hand must serve to show
Their noble trade where'er they go.

Upon reading this post, I hope you learned a little about the Plague Doctor, and perhaps, a little about yourself?

Anything Can Happen on Halloween

Have you seen Tim Curry's tambourine?

Halloweentime!

It's that time of the year. When it's considered okay to go your local pharmacy and pick up cold medicine and a rubber severed foot. When seeing animatronic zombies for sale next to the bananas is considered normal. When carving devils and demons into engorged squashes is not only encouraged, but awarded with prizes. That's right! It's Halloweentime!!


I've always loved Halloween, even when I was a wee lad. If it wasn't for the presents on Christmas, it'd be my favorite holiday. Every year when October rears it's ugly head, every local grocery store, pharmacy, and party supplier goes into Halloween mode. And good god do I love it so. I mean, what other time of year would you see mummified cats for sale???


The answer is no other time of year. The shelves of your local Halloween mart are fully stocked with the most diabolical, nasty, bloody, wonderful things you could ever imagine. Want a severed head? Take your pick!


Sure, seeing all the awesome accessories is, well, awesome, but there was one particular section of the Halloween mart that I LIVED for. The MASK WALL!


I could spend hours starring at that wall, thinking of the possibilities. Marveling at the over-sized Dragon heads that cost $100. Once or twice, after getting a good grade on a test or project, instead of asking for money or a cool toy, I always asked for a mask off of that elusive wall.

It's great to see mask walls still around, but one thing I noticed is that every year, depending on your Halloween mart, there's always a 'theme'. This year, the theme seems to be creepy babies. I think babies are creepy already, so undead zombie babies are even creepier.




Clowns have always been a big theme as well. There's nothing better than a creepy-ass clown. Except maybe a zombie dinosaur.


One thing I always loved were the motion detecting props. Usually it's a witch on a string, or maybe a doormat that screams. Over the years, these 'high end' props have gotten more and more elaborate. Sometimes they can be goofy, but I have to say, I haven't seen any this cool in a long time:


First of all, check out Meckaneck on the right there. I have always wondered what that Heroic Warrior would look like if he became an Overlord of Evil. And now I know. And sweet candy-coated Jesus is he creepy. Now, check out the little dude in the bucket. If you look closely, you can see he's holding a joystick in each hand! He's controlling himself in that bucket of mutagen ooze. I imagine he's sitting on top of a small robot with legs that look like ED 209. Did I mention he was in a bucket?

So if you haven't guessed by now, I love Halloween. I love the decorations, I love the costumes, and I love the idea behind it. Seeing disembodied heads, flying zombie skeleton pirates, and walls of masks make me all giggly inside. It reminds me of a simpler time, when goblins and devils were real and should be feared. Except for that one night a year where they were to be celebrated.

Also, look at this guy.

Aquarium!

I went to the aqurarium and took pictures wheile I was at the aquarerium. Look at my aquarem pcitures I took while I was there.

A fish


Some birds


My favorite tank


This guy sang the Batman song for us


The zookeeper said these were Lorikeets. She had a hat.

The Hatbox Ghost Head Turn

There are quite a few images on the Hatbox Ghost from the front, but have you ever wondered what he looked like from the side? The back? Well, now's your chance!



This is a turnaround using the bust I made of the Hatbox Ghost. The bust uses the exact same "Ezra" head as ol' Hatty originally did, painted to match what few pictures we have of Mr. Box. Enjoy!

Comic-Con 2010

Well, another Comic-Con has come and gone, but I will always remember the sights.... the sounds.... the.... smells. My goal this year was to take as many pictures as I could, it seems every year I never take enough! I even helped to organize a Comic-Con Photo Scavenger Hunt which was super fun! The goal was to take as many pictures from the list as possible. The person with the most points wins!

Here are some highlights of my Comic-Con photos. You can view all my pictures in my Comic-Con 2010 Set on flickr

Detective Comics #27 (first appearance of Batman)

Whiplash

Smaug

Christopher Johnson from District 9

Shawshank Redemption Bible

VINCENT from The Black Hole

Aquaman Flail

The Haunted Mansion Hatbox Ghost Bust

I'm obsessed with Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, and one of my favorite characters in the ride is the Hatbox Ghost. Well, technically he hasn't been in the ride since the first week it opened... so here is some quick back story:

Disney created a character to put in the Haunted Mansion called The Hatbox Ghost. The gimmick was that his head would disappear and reappear in the hatbox he was holding. Here's a picture of the real ghost as seen in 1969:



Long story short, the effect didn't work. He was only in the attraction for the first few weeks in 1969, and then we was taken out, never to be seen again...

Since then, the rumor of a 'missing' ghost has grown, and finally some actual pictures emerged of Hatty as seen in the ride. There was a number of merchandising items that featured him, and he has grown in popularity ever since. There are even rumors of him returning to the ride in the near future.

Well, Disney is always one to save money, so they used the Hatbox Ghost head sculpt in other places throughout the ride. You can see his head in some of the pictures in the hallway, and most famously, one of the hitchhiking ghosts uses the same sculpt. I was actually able to acquire a cast of one of these heads, and painted him up as the infamous Hatbox Ghost!

I still need to give him his collar, and find a better hat. But what do you all think?

If you want to read more about him, check out my website!

www.thehatboxghost.com

L O S T

There is no now here.

Ewok Karaoke

Ewok Karaoke from Rob Tyler

Striped Tiger

I rigged a tuna sandwich to my tiger trap yesterday, and caught this little fellow. Tigers will do anything for a tuna fish sandwich. I guess they're kind of stupid that way.

Haunted Mansion Crypt Candelabra

"When candle lights flicker where the air is deathly still..."

Designed by Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily for the Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary. Limited edition of 500.

How To Train Your Dragon!

Just saw "How To Train Your Dragon" last night in 3D. It was amazing!! Go see it!! Here are two of the main characters from the film, Toothless the Dragon and Hiccup and Viking!

Captain EO Tribute!!

It's official! Captain EO has returned to Disneyland!



And with it's return comes a ton of sweet merchandise!


They even have the original prelude playing before the show starts!


So what's my verdict? Two thumbs way up!!



It's only for a limited time, so be sure to head to Disneyland ASAP to see the King of Pop as Captain EO one last time!

Can't make it to the park? You can always visit

www.captaineo.net

to see the latest news, and, of course, watch the original show!

New Year Thriller

How about a little Thriller to ring in the new year?



Michael Jackson, as seen in the "Thriller" music video. By Hot Toys.